The present invention is represented by installations permitting the manufacturing of circular cross section elements such as tubes or electrical cables insulated with an insulating material, in particular for installing insulating material around tubes or cylinders.
Generally, thermal insulator material comes either in the form of half-bodies, which are applied against the tube, or which is rolled around the tube in the form of a coating. Regardless of the thermal insulator presentation, its application onto the tube requires considerable manual intervention, which to date has not been particularly automated.
Thermally insulated tubes are used in various industries for transport of hot or cold liquids and to maintain their thermodynamic properties. These tubes are generally wrapped in thermally insulating material to reduce heat exchange with the surrounding media. In the oil industry, thermally insulated double envelope tubes are commonly used for extraction and transport of hydrocarbons. In these industries, the tubes are prefabricated at given lengths, for example approximately 6 to 48 meters, or at continuous lengths from 1 to 10 km. The tubes are generally made of steel, with an external diameter between approximately 1 and 100 cm.
In the case of electric cable elements having circular cross-section, the insulating material is an electric insulator.